I just played around with this tool some, and it seems to paint a reasonably accurate picture: https://howmuch.net/cost-of-living/ny/new-york https://howmuch.ne

I just played around with this tool some, and it seems to paint a reasonably accurate picture: https://howmuch.net/cost-of-living/ny/new-york https://howmuch.net/cost-of-living/ny/new-york In general, the more rural an area is, the lower the cost of living. Rural college towns are more likely to have an abundance of cheap apartments than the average rural area. However, it's all highly relative. San Francisco and NYC are the two most expensive locations in the United States. By comparison, everywhere else is cheaper. Lots of major US metro areas are extremely affordable by comparison, and $120k could probably last a frugal person for 2 or 3 years near those locations especially if living with roommates... so you don't have to live in the middle of nowhere to be somewhere affordable. Compared to a lot of places outside the US, even the affordable parts of the US probably seem expensive, but my limited understanding is that most of Western Europe is relatively expensive... so probably not too different from the US in many places, but definitely outside my area of expertise.